Cord for surgical ligatures and other purposes.



P. H. J.-B. M. OHASTENET DE GERY.

CORD FOR SURGICAL LIGATUBES AND OTHER PURPOSES APPLICATION FILED MAY 1, 1908.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

wi/lwmooo I ama rA'UL HENRI JEAN-BAPTISTE MARIE CHASTENET on creator NANTES, FRANCE.

com) IOR sURGIca LIGATURES AND owns-n runrosns.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL HENRI JEAN- BAPTISTE MARIE Cnnsrnnn'r on GfiRY, a citizen of the Republic of France, and resident of Nantes, France, have invented new and useful Cords for Surgical Ligatures and other Purposes, which invention is fully set forth in'the following specification.

This invention relates to processes for making cords of fish-skins and 'to an improved produ'ct consisting of a fish-skin cord; and the object of the invention is to provide an improved cord such as may be used for surgical purposes and have great advantages over those heretofore used.

The surgical use of gut-cordshas experienced various vicissitudes because catgut, like all surgical threads, must be aseptic, that is to say, absolutely free from germs ormicrobes, and it is extremely diflicult, not to say, impossible, to sterilize gut-cords in an absolutely reliable manner, the same being prepared from a substance whichis, as an intestine, originally very unclean: and fragile and which does not well resist the action of heat, like all organic substances. Gut-cords are, therefore, very imperfect from certain points of view. Other threads that can be absorbed and which have been suggested for replacing gut-cords, have been practically all abandoned, owing to various serious disadvantages.

The invention as stated relates tocords of fish-skins which have all the desirable qualities of gut-cords without having their disadvantages, at leastfrom the surgical point of view. These cords have in factsuppleness, strength and regularity of gage, They are perfectlyabsorbable within a suitable peri0d,=and owing to their origin, they are very easy to steri izer The accompanying drawing shows in perspective a fish-skin cord of the kind provided byvmy invention.

The skins of mammals, owing to their membraneous form and to their frequently very large dimensions, are naturally suitable for manufacturing threads and cords, but they generally contain a horny substance which, while 'ving the strength on account of whlch the s ins are used for soxmany purposes, is by no means absorbable into the tissues of living organism, when such threads or cords are used for surgical purposes.

Furthermore, the skins of mammals being very rich in glands are full of germs, which Specification of Letters Patent. PatentedNgv, 29, Application filed May 1, 1908. Serial No. 430,425.

used for the are very difiicult to remove-and the. presence 7 of which constitutes a very serious disadvantage in surgery. Of all the vertebrate animals only fish have no horny substance in their skin and hardly ever any real cutaneous glands. They live in water which protects them against dirt of many 'kinds.-

Some fish have scales-bony, ivory-like productions of the de'rmis-which, without doubt, are not absorbable. For this reason threads or cords prepared from the skin of such fish cannot in their unprepared state be stitutes an advantage for the manufactureof threads or strands as will be readily understood. Moreover, and this is much more important, the skin of these fish, because of their incessant movements and changes of form, while living, is made of a special tissue'which is very elastic, and which readily expands or contracts. It isthe presence of this tissue which gives the cords made from the skin of eel-like fish all the desirable fea tures required. The eel, the conger, the

muraena, .the lamprey and generally eellike fish are, therefore, the best fish for the purpose of this invention.v The eel has microscopic scales, but it is well known that they can be dissolved by immersing the skin in, for instance, a solution of picric acid. The skin of, the conger' is completely bare, thick and strong. It is perhaps the best for this purpose. The lamprey has also a bare skin, but less strong.

e If the skins removed fromthe fish are examined microscopically, it is foundv that they have varying thicknesses, but all of them are sulficiently dense and fairly loosely connected to the, underlying tissues so that theycan be easily removed without injury. The color is usually dark. at the back and light at the stomach. The outside of the skin is slippery owing to the mucous and greasy coating. Inside, it sometimes has adhering filaments which come from the layer purposes of this" invention. 'nsof certain fish, of the of conjunctive tissue at which the division has to be effected. Microscopically, these skins appear to be.constituted chiefly of two ,layers; a thick epidermis constituted by this structure it is necessary to so treat these skins, as by cleaning and scraping, as to free them of'any foreign substances which .might be injurious when brought in contact with sensitive wounds.

Generally speaking, it is necessary first to clean and scrape the skins, secondly to spin theminto cords, that is to say, to divide them into strips or threads and twist the said strips, if desired, and thirdly to polishthe cords or strips. Finally for using them it will be necessary to sterilize them. The

various steps may be described as follows:

1. For cleaning the skins, they can be scraped and immersed in soda or potash lye,

for a variable time. The skins of the con er and the lamprey are, for instance, more 'f- 'ficult to clean from their mucous than those of the self Afterward they are rinsed and washed in clear water. Then the skin can be scraped, so as to equalize the inner surface which has filaments of cellular tissue. It is diflicult to remove by scraping the pigmented epidermic layer and to keep only the useful derma.. This, however, may be effected by alternately using baths and scrapin If desired, the' skin may be bleache or decolorized at this time by means of some chemical agent such as sulfurous acid or oxygenated water, or this operation could be eifected subsequently.

2. The spinning, or, in other words, the conversion ofskins into threads, usually requires the division of the skin into more or less fine strips, according to the thickness of the skin and to the thickness of the thread to be obtained, and afterward as an additional operation the twisting of the said strips or laces. The division of the skin into strips can be effected in various ways, but in order that the strips shall be regular, it is necessary to fix the skin fiat on a strong support, and to act on it with-a sharp instrument, such as a razor or cuttin roller which is caused to move in a straig t line,

by means of some guide. It has been stated that the twisting is not alwaysnecessary because some threads obtained by the simple.

division of thick skins, such as, for instance, the skin of the conger, can be utilized without twisting, if it is preferred to have a flat thread,- or a thread of square cross-section rather than cylindrical thread. But in practice, some think the twisting is generally indispensable in most cases in order to give geously use twisting may be effected by means of frames or spinning wheels. The decolorizing of the cords if not'previously effected, could be effected at this point.

3. The cords or stripsbeing held on the machine, it will be necessary in order to finish them and. to render them uniform, to submit them to the important operation of polishing. This consists'in causingthem to pass between horse-hair rubbing devices and then between rubblng devices or grlnders provided with pumice stone powder. When after these various manipulations, the cord or stri is perfectly dry, it may be removed and a er which it is ready for use.

A cord which is produced by this method submitted to any sterilizing process by chemicals or by heat, suchas is usual for this purpose. The important point is that and which is a cord made of fish-skin, can be i the fish-skin, not being originally as infected as the sheep intestine of which catgut is'made, the cord made therefrom can.

be easily sterilized, unlike catgut, which is responsible for many accidents, and the chemical processes which have been abandoned as re ards catgut, could be advantafor the sterilization of cords made of fish-skin as proposed by my invenpared so as to be absorbable into the tissues of living or anism, and obtained by removing the epidermis and slitting the so prepared skin into strips.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Asv anarticle of manufacture, a fishskin thread, string or cord which by reason of its being readily absorbable by living t1ssue is especially adapted for use in surgical sutures and for other analogous purposes, and which is made from fish-skin by slitting or dividing the skin into filaments or fibers suitable for the object intended free from non-absorbable parts of the fish-skin.

2. As a new article of .manufacture, a

cord absorbable into the tissues of living 3. As anarticle of manufacture, a cord made of the derma of fish-skin from which the epidermis has been removed, the derma being free from glands, so as to be absorbable into the tissues of living organism.

4. As an article of manufacture, a cord made of the derma of the skin of fish of the eel-like family, free from glands, so as to be absorbable into the tissues of living organism, and polished.

5. The process herein described, Which consists in bathing a skin of the fish of the eel family in a cleaning solution for a suitable period, washing the skin in clear water, scraping the skinto such an extent on both the inner and outer surfaces as to free it of the epidermis and every part except the derma, and enable it to be absorbed into the tissues of living organism, dividing the skin intostrips, and pollshing the strips.

6. As an articleof manufacture, a cord made only of the derma 0f the skin of fish of the eel-like. family, free from glands and scales, and polished.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

PAUL HENRI JEAN-BAPTISTE MARIE OHASTENET DE GERY.

' Witnesses:

LOUIS GOLDSGHMID, R. J. CHANYEAU. 

